


The Snows of Another World

by lonesomewriter



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, Fluff, M/M, Prince Victor Nikiforov, Transmigration, brief character death mentioned, transmigrator Yuuri
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:02:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21945541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lonesomewriter/pseuds/lonesomewriter
Summary: Yuuri Katsuki was making a comeback to skating after taking half a season off, when what was supposed to be a quadruple flip turned out to be his pass to transmigrating into a body of what seemed to be a medieval commoner sharing the same name as him.This is a short fic about a skater turned commoner forming a crush on a gorgeous prince with a noble aura.
Relationships: Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov
Comments: 4
Kudos: 70
Collections: Reincarnation and Transmigration, Yuri!!! on Ice Secret Skater 2019





	The Snows of Another World

**Author's Note:**

  * For [PoisonMantis](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PoisonMantis/gifts).



> Hello! This is my piece for [Phy](https://twitter.com/Activelytrying) as a part of the [Yuri!!! On Ice Secret Skater 2019](https://yoisecretskater.tumblr.com/) event, I hope you enjoy~
> 
> Phy requested a royal au with sickening amounts of fluff, and while I tried to deliver, I didn't have enough time to fill this with fluff as much as I'd liked to ^^'
> 
> But it was so cool to write a royal au, I really enjoyed writing this :3

An unfamiliar voice was whispering way too loudly with someone, the sharp breaths and biting tone making the throbbing at the back of Yuuri’s head grow more and more intense, until he couldn’t take it anymore. Struggling to blink open his rheum-filled eyes, Yuuri tried to tell the people making the annoying noise to shut up and let him sleep. But what came out of his mouth was just wheezing mumbles. Yuuri gasped as his swollen throat felt as if it was on fire, the decision of trying to shout definitely not one of his greatest.

The whispering people seemed to notice he had awakened, as their conversation stopped as if cut with a knife, and silence fell for a fat minute. Yuuri tried to lift his head up, but the pain jolting down his neck made him cry out and fall back against the soft feather pillows.

After some furious blinking and silent wailing, he managed to pry open his one eye, the cozy room coming clear before him. It had light green walls with absurdly detailed, golden embellishments on every furniture, which contained a huge, wooden dressing table and a human-sized mirror.

Yuuri could only stare in awe at the white silk curtains tied with golden strings, the ambiance of the room reeking of a snobbishly rich, maybe baroque-enthusiastic elitist. Yuuri had once visited Versailles when he participated in  Internationaux de France a few years back, and this room had something vaguely similar to the grande halls of the palace.

Yuuri shifted his eyes off the huge window, and was startled when he noticed a man sitting by the farthest edge of the bed, his strikingly blue eyes fixed on Yuuri’s every move. He was wearing a gorgeous, pink cloak with white fur and a light shirt with light rose pattern sewn on underneath. His silvery hair was short, but fell wavy on top of his left eye, framing his handsome face in a way that made Yuuri’s breath stuck in his throat.

He had no time to adapt to the presence of the almost ethereal being in front of him, however, as right that moment the other person, currently standing to the left side of Yuuri’s bed, decided to open his mouth.

“You’re awake! Took you so long, we almost thought you’d be dead,” the man said, a healthy flush to his slightly tanned skin as the corner’s of his lips pulled into a wide grin. Gently placing his hand to Yuuri’s forehead, he bowed lightly, the dark-blue sleeves of his robes fluttering as he moved. “The fever hasn’t gone completely, I suggest you stay in bed for now.”

The words seemed to yank Yuuri out of the daze he had been momentarily swept into, and the realisation of the sheer strangeness of the situation hit him harder than his coach’s scoldings. 

“But I—wasn’t I just—”

A sudden flash of pain made Yuuri’s vision blind for a moment, and he wrapped his hands around his head while catching his breath. Images of the empty ice rink, the lonely spotlight and the clash of steel against the cold, hard ice filled his mind in sharp flashes.

He wasn’t supposed to be here, wherever it was here happened to be. He was supposed to be on the ice in Orleans Arena on Las Vegas, skating his free program on the Skate America of the Grand Prix preliminaries. His chest tightening, Yuuri struggled to breathe as the oppressing wave of the situation’s severity hit him.

He remembered stepping on the ice, remembered bowing to the cheering audience, ready to make his comeback after taking half a season off from skating. He had felt stronger than ever after having dissolved his contract with his old coach and returned home. He remembered starting his program, remembered the music that had rang in the tense air—[S.O.S by Dimash](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aqz0qU2npiQ)— as everyone had held their breaths. It had been refreshing and pressuring both at the same time, but Yuuri had known he would do it.

After all, he hadn’t practiced the quadruple flip so hard for naught.

But staring at the worried man through his teary eyes, Yuuri realised he hadn’t been able to do it in the end. What had supposed to be a breathtaking jump to lead him over his past misdeeds, had turned out to lead him into crashing and burning, transmigrating into a foreign body in what seemed to be an age way in the past.

“Hey, it’s okay, it’s alright now,” the boy in the dark blue robes said, the bed creaking before his hands wrapped around Yuuri’s body. “You’re alright now, it’s over. You survived, you’re alive…”

_ You’re alive. _

Did this mean—was he really alive?

Shaking, Yuuri took a deep breath, detaching himself from the boy. He looked him straight in the black eyes, his voice weak and nearly breaking when he spoke. “Where, where am I?”

There was a flash of confusion in the boy’s eyes, but it was quickly replaced by fear. He froze, his eyebrows rising as he exchanged a quick glance with the guy still sitting by the edge of the bed. “Uh, we’re in Russia… Yuuri, you do remember who I am, right?”

Yuuri could only shake his head, taking comfort in the fact that at least his name was the same as before. He saw the flash of hurt in the boy’s features, and felt terrible. Casting his eyes down on his hands now resting on his lap, Yuuri wondered if the ‘Yuuri’ whose body he had crashed into was now in Las Vegas, waking up in a hospital after having fallen on the ice.

The thought brought an odd sense of comfort to him, and he found enough strength to lift his eyes back to the boy sitting next to him. “I’m sorry, but I seem to have lost my memories… Could you please tell me your name?”

The boy perked up at that, nodding his head up and down vigorously. “Yes! I’m Phichit Chulanont, the royal herbalist. But please, let me take a quick look at your head…”

Without waiting for an answer, Phichit placed his warm hands gently on Yuuri’s cheeks, making him bow his head so that he could start poking at his scalp. “Hmm, it seems like there is no external damage… I guess it must be that the shock caused you to lose your memory, but I can’t tell whether it’s only fleeting or if your memories will return. Well, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”

He released Yuuri, patting his shoulder gently with an apologetic smile on his face. “It’s tough luck, but I’d say you’re lucky to have survived the fall. It’s freezing here this time of the year, and to have crashed through the ice and plunged underwater…”

“Uhm, this may sound a bit stupid,” Yuuri interrupted, “but where am I?”

Phichit jolted at that, his eyes widening from shock as he clasped his hand on his forehead, the contact making a loud slapping noise echo in the room. “Ah, how inconsiderate of me! You’re currently in the castle of Nikiforov, and this here is your crown prince, Viktor Nikiforov. He is the one who saved you.”

His eyes widening, Yuuri turned to take a proper look on the man Phichit was pointing at. Viktor had a weird look on his face, as if he was deep in thought, staring at the spot where Yuuri’s hand rested on the blanket with empty eyes. Only after Phichit cleared his throat thrice did he realise he was being stared at, and his blue eyes met Yuuri’s.

It was as if someone had shot an electric gun through Yuuri’s body. There was something intense, yet vulnerable in the boy’s eyes, the way he stared at him like there was no one else in the room with him.

“Hello, Yuuri,” the prince said, his deep voice resonating in the room like a soft spell luring him to grow attached to him. “I’m glad to see you’ve woken.”

With that, he finally rose from the bed. Looking at Phichit, he walked over to press his hand on the boy’s shoulder, a soft smile on his face. “I trust him under your care. Be sure he lacks no food or refreshments, and that his recovery will be smooth and painless. I’ll take my leave.”

Phichit, too, rose from the bed to bow, and watched as the prince left the room with his long cape swaying behind him as he moved. When the door was shut, he turned to Yuuri, a playful smile on his face.

“So, how much do you remember? Because the prince don’t save just anybody, in fact, this is the most interested I’ve ever seen him be about anybody!”

“Is that so?” Yuuri croaked, realising his throat was very dry. Before he could ask, Phichit was already handing him a copper cup filled with warm water.

“Drink this, it’ll be good for you,” he said before turning to rummage through the tiny purse tied around the sash on his waist. He dug out a long, moss-green herb, and walked over to the bedside table with it before starting to grind it to dust in a tiny mortar. “The congee I asked the kitchen’s to prepare for you should be here soon, I’ll make you some medicine to go with it so you’ll feel stronger soon.”

Yuuri nodded at Phichit’s back, grimacing as he let the almost steaming water down his throat. He had never before drank plain hot water, always preferring his ice cold. But it soothed his swollen throat as it went down, and Yuuri found himself quite happy to down the entire cup.

“Uhm, Phichit?”

“Hm, what is it?” the boy answered immediately, stopping his grinding for a moment to cast a look at Yuuri to see if everything was alright. “Do you need something?”

Yuuri shook his head, but nodded after a moment. “It’s just—I just want to ask a few questions. If that’s okay…”

“Sure! That’s only a good sign, please don’t hesitate to ask me anything! I’ll promise to answer to my best abilities.”

Yuuri smiled a little at the boy’s enthusiasm. It was good to have someone so positive around him. But as he looked at the herbalist taking another plant from his pouch, he couldn’t help his eyes from wandering to the door, wondering where the prince had gone.

“So, did you have any questions in particular?” Phichit broke the silence that had stretched between them while Yuuri had been zoning out, thinking of the reaction he had had when he’d looked into the prince’s eyes. Snapping back to the moment, Yuuri blushed slightly before answering.

“Ah, I did… So, uhm, where did you say we were again?”

And so the time passed by rather fast, with Yuuri asking questions and Phichit patiently answering each of them, getting off track from time to time as he explained some events of the past. Yuuri learned that the owner of this body he was occupying was a farmer of lowly background, and that he and Phichit had been friends for a couple of years after he had helped the herbalist pick up some rare flowers.

It was surprisingly easy to get along with the chattery boy, and Yuuri found himself relaxing quite a bit, to the point of almost falling asleep during listening to one of Phichit’s stories about a rainless summer a few years back. He had just gotten to the part where the prince had personally joined the commonfolk to plant vegetables when there was a knock on the door. The herbalist startled before welcoming the two young girls holding a huge silver tray inside.

“Ah, I see the congee is ready!”

After Phichit had taken the tray from the girls and dismissed them, Yuuri was served a bowl filled with watery congee that emanated a light scent of medical herbs from it. His stomach growling, he wasted no time grabbing the spoon and digging in, nearly burning his tongue in his hurry to eat, for which Phichit laughed before reminding him to be careful.

Maybe having transmigrated wouldn’t be so bad, if he would be pampered like this the whole time, Yuuri found himself thinking as he downed the tasty congee.

*

It took a whole week before Phichit deemed Yuuri’s fever had been down long enough for him to move out of bed. Although the feather pillows and duvet had been warm and soft to lie in, and the meals he had gotten tasty and nutritious, Yuuri was already itching to get some movement to his withering limbs.

“The crown prince wanted me to inform you that you’re a special guest here in the castle, so feel free to go anywhere, and whatever you may request the servants or guards, it will be fulfilled within reason,” Phichit told Yuuri as the convalescent was pulling a light blue tunic over his white undershirt. When he was finished tying his brown leather belt, he turned to look at the herbalist, who was eyeing him with a hint of envy glistening in his eyes.

Yuuri swallowed, thinking of the depths Viktor was going to for satisfying a mere peasant like himself. “The crown prince is too kind…”

Phichit sighed, shaking his head as his face split into a smile. “He really is not, you should trust my word on that. It’s just, he must’ve really taken a liking to you to be treating you like this. Believe me, in the entirety of the ten years I’ve served the crown, I’ve never seen Viktor act so… so smitten with anyone. It’s wild, honestly.”

Yuuri rubbed his nose, casting his head down as he let out an embarrassed chuckle. “You must be exaggerating, I’m no one special.”

“Yeah, you can keep telling yourself that, but I know for sure I was convinced the crown prince was impotent before I saw the way he acts around you,” Phichit laughed, patting Yuuri’s shoulder, a roguish tint to his chirpy voice. “So, just a word from someone who’s been around for a while and knows this castle and it’s residents better than his own pockets, the prince has a thing for you. Whether it is just a regular, brotherly feelings, that’s your job to find out.”

With that, the herbalist gathered his equipment and left the room that had become Yuuri’s designated bedroom with a deep bow.

Yuuri stared at the door a long while after the herbalist had gone, his words echoing in his mind. In the end, he shook his head and buried the implications deep down in his mind, choosing to ignore them for now. Surely Phichit must’ve been imagining stuff, it wasn’t like the prince had come to visit Yuuri even once after the brief first-meeting a week ago.

Being surrounded by all the steam from the potions and herbs must’ve truly messed up the poor herbalist’s head, yes, that must be the case. The confusion on Yuuri’s mind turned into sympathy towards his poor friend. It wasn’t Phichit’s fault his skills for reading social cues had been compromised for his art, and apart from his flawed deductions, he was really a great friend and a good laugh.

Having come to a conclusion, Yuuri wasted no more time sulking inside the bedroom he’d more than grown accustomed to during his days of more or less forced bedrest. Pulling the door open, he sticked his head inside the vast hallway to see if it was empty before stepping in.

To put it simply; the castle was  _ huge. _ The halls were long, the ceiling high and the red carpet on the floor extending to what felt like miles on each side. Yuuri stared at the rows of doors, shiny knights in heavy armour, and massive flower vases all placed in neat rows along the walls as he walked down the hallway, having picked a direction at random.

It was like straight out of some medieval movie, the details nearly making the fantasy nerd in Yuuri cry aloud. After turning around to a similar hallway thrice, Yuuri came across a row of high windows revealing a postcard worthy picture of a snowy courtyard. The huge maples were buried under the snow along with the bushes, statues and benches. There were plowed pathways where assumedly the servants made their way around, and Yuuri even spotted a pair of grey squirrels chasing each other near the frozen fountain in the middle.

There was a light snowfall, the sky light grey and darkening. Yuuri only realised he’d been leaning closer and closer when the tip of his nose touched the freezing glass, making goosebumps run up his spine.

“You should be careful to not catch a cold again,” a charming voice came from Yuuri’s left, making him startled as he bolted out from the window. As he turned around, he saw none other than the crown prince himself, Viktor Nikiforov, standing next to him, his silver hair glistening under the candlelight. He reached his hand out to help Yuuri balance himself when he was about to trip on his feet.

Yuuri could feel heat gather in his cheeks as he flushed from head to toes, the prince’s delicate fingers around his arm like hot iron, scalding his skin in the most pleasurable of ways. Quietly trying to detach himself from the firm hold, he could feel Viktor’s arms tightening, refusing to let him go.

“Please, watch your footing,” Viktor whispered, his deep voice closer to Yuuri than before, his warm breath tingling against his neck turning him into a stuttering mess. Yuuri had to close his eyes, blaming Phichit’s unreasonable words from before of the way his mind was running a mile a minute to directions he most definitely should not be going into.

It was a whole different thing to be gay in the modern age, when same-sex marriage was legalised and not shunned upon the majority of society. But being here, in who-knows-what era, surrounded by a setting that was unfamiliar to Yuuri, it would be truly idiotic of him to go around assuming people wouldn’t cancel him for loving someone they deemed to be the wrong gender.

“Aah, c—crown prince—”

“Please, just call me Viktor.”

Yuuri let out a whine-like noise, thinking of how much he was physically unable to do so. Instead of telling the prince that, he skipped the whole topic and chose to direct the conversation to elsewhere. “How come you’re here, at this—this part of the castle?”

Viktor chuckled at that, finally making a little room between the two of them. Yuuri managed to revel in the ability to breathe properly for a full second before his eyes locked in with the icy blue ones, the intensity of the stare making all the air he’d just manage to inhale escape from his lungs like he was a balloon poked with a needle.

“Yuuri~” the way Viktor sing-songed Yuuri’s name should be illegal. The skater’s stomach threw a somersault by the single word, his brain turning to mush as his knees nearly cave in underneath him. The proximity of their bodies was too much, too soon. But just when Yuuri was about to make a complete fool of himself by drooling all over the crown prince’s jacket for having held his mouth hanging open for so long, Viktor pulled back and let Yuuri stand on his own.

“I see you’ve recovered well,” Viktor stated, as if he was completely unaware of the inner turmoil Yuuri was in, yearning to have the prince’s arms back around him while at the same time hoping the two of them would never touch each other ever again. “I hope your memories are also getting back, no?”

“Uhm, no, I still don’t remember anything… But you can thank Phichit and his medicine for taking the fever down,” Yuuri managed to stammer, fixing his eyes on the silvery button on Viktor’s shoulder to keep himself from staring at the prince with starry eyes. “And luckily I was fished out from the water quickly enough to not have any permanent damage on my body. So really, I don’t know how to thank you enough…”

“There’s no need to thank me at all,” Viktor’s voice held such raw honesty to it, Yuuri didn’t dare to refute. “The only thing I ask of you is to take all your time to get better, and not be afraid to ask me directly if you need anything.”

Yuuri nodded, and was about to answer that the prince had already done more than enough for him when his stomach decided to rumble loudly. His words dying in his throat, Yuuri’s eyes widened in horror as he snapped his head up to the prince to see if he’d heard, only to find him smiling wide, his blue eyes twinkling as he stared at him fondly.

“I was just about to head to the dining room for dinner, would you mind joining me?” Viktor said, suavely offering his hand for Yuuri to take.

Although every fiber of his being screamed of him to refuse the prince’s kind offer, Yuuri took the pale hand as if possessed, muttering an almost incoherent ‘thank you’, and so they started walking down the hallway together.

“I hope mutton is to your liking, my best friend had found some from God knows where,” Viktor chuckled, his steps light as he guided Yuuri through the candlelit halls towards the dining hall. “I can also ask the kitchen prepare something else for you if you’re not satisfied, I’ve heard the people of the Hasetsu village enjoy pork this time of the year—”

“No need for that!” Yuuri was quick to refuse, thinking it’d be mad to go such lengths only to ensure the meat in his plate was something he preferred. And besides, he had never been a picky eater, more like he tended to overeat since food happened to be a big soft spot for him. But it really wasn’t his fault everything tasted so good.

“Mutton is good. Who is this friend of yours, by the way, is he a knight?”

Viktor laughed brightly at that, the sound echoing in the vast halls. Yuuri’s ears perked when he heard the joyous sound, subconsciously listing it under the most enjoyable sounds on Earth in his mind.

“Oh no, Chris is a free spirit, you couldn’t bound him to follow the strict rules of the royal guard that easily.” There was fondness in his voice when he talked about his friend, and Yuuri thought the two must’ve been friends for a long time to reach such a bond. Viktor casted a glance at him, the corner’s of his mouth rising when Yuuri quickly casted his eyes away as if being scalded when he had been caught staring.

“I met him when I was seven, he was hunting down rabbits on the royal garden,” Viktor explained. “I told him his hand would be cut off if he was caught, and then he tried to shoot me with his bow. He missed, obviously, and when I told him a murder attempt of the crown prince was a crime punishable by death, he started bawling. It was so pitiful, I had no choice but to swear an oath with him, and we’ve been friends ever since. Ha, to think he was only five then…”

Yuuri stared at him with his eyes wide open, not sure if he should believe the story or not. It took three seconds until Viktor bursted into laughter, holding his stomach with both hands as tears gathered to his eyes.

“You—you should see your face right now!” he managed to wheeze out between the giggles. Yuuri puffed his cheeks, pouting when he realised he’d been played. When Viktor noticed, his laughter quietened down almost immediately.

“Ah, I should stop teasing you…” he said in a tone that clearly meant the contrary. Yuuri was about to scold him, when he saw the look on his face and all the words of rebuttal died in his throat. The crown prince’s pale cheeks were tinted rosy pink, his eyes deep as if Viktor was looking at a piece of delicious pork cutlet bowl instead of Yuuri.

The skater was luckily saved from having to say anything, as they reached the dining hall just then. His breath hitched when he saw the magnificent hall, almost as big as his skating rink had been back in Detroit. There were windows larger than the ones down at the hallway on three sides of the room, all of them lined with heavy, red curtains similar to the ones in Yuuri’s room.

Letting out an awed sigh, Yuuri’s eyes were wide and gleaming as he took in the gorgeous decoration. Even the chairs had golden, vine-like carvings to them and red, plush pillows that looked soft to touch. Viktor escorted Yuuri to one of them, before sitting down at the one opposite of him. The second he sat down, the servants standing in rows by the entrance all circled the table, bringing in trays filled with food.

Instantly as the lids were lifted, Yuuri’s nose was filled by a wave of different scents, each more delicious and mouth-watering than the other. His mouth salivating, Yuuri’s fingers itched to just grab the nearest bowl and pour its contents straight to his mouth. 

But luckily a plate was placed in front of him before he could do anything he’d regret later, and Yuuri inhaled as his eyes fixed on the brownish, sugary meat on his plate laying on a cooked vegetable bed.

“Yuuri, you can start eating,” Viktor said, a hint of amuse in his voice. Yuuri lifted his eyes to him, a blush rising to his cheeks when he noticed the prince had already taken his cutlers to his hands, holding the silver knife and fork in his delicate fingers effortlessly. “And please tell me what you think of it, so I can ask the chefs to adjust to your taste. As our guest, it is my duty to see you’re satisfied and don’t go around speaking ill of our hostility.”

“I would never!”

Viktor laughed, motioning for Yuuri to pick up his utensils. “Please, eat! The mutton will grow cold by this rate.”

The dinner went on in a similar note, and Yuuri found himself growing more and more fond of the crown prince. Viktor was a delight to have a conversation with, the way he held himself having an aura of a true nobility Yuuri had never before seen in his life, the closest being an ice skater fully immersed on his program. Yuuri felt delighted to find such a link between Viktor and his own passion in life.

As he finished the last pieces of the tender meat, Yuuri wondered how easily he would get accustomed to a lifestyle like this. Looking outside at the now heavy snowfall, Yuuri leaned back on his chair, letting himself revel in the feeling of satiation and warmth filling his body.

This was good, he could get used to living this.


End file.
